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2018 MLB Draft preview: Carter Stewart scouting report
With the 2018 MLB Draft just four weeks away — the first round kicks off on June 4, 2018 — its time to start offering capsule looks at players the Texas Rangers could select with their top picks. The Rangers’ first round pick is at #15 and their second round pick is at #55 — they have no compensatory picks this year.
Leading up to draft day, we will be doing writeups of some of the players who could end up getting selected by the Rangers with one of their first two picks. Today, we are looking at Florida high school pitcher Carter Stewart.
Carter Stewart is a 6’6”, 200 lb. righthanded high school pitcher from Melbourne, Florida. Stewart has blossomed this spring, throwing in the upper-90s with his fastball and showing a “hammer curve” that is considered one of the best in this year’s draft class. His changeup is behind the other two pitches, though MLB Pipeline says he shows some feel for it.
I opted for Stewart today because he is projected to go to Texas at #15 in the most recent mock draft from Baseball America, which came out yesterday. If Stewart does end up going there, its because he’s slipped a bit recently — Keith Law has Stewart ranked #2 on his list, and praises the high spin rate on his curveball. MLB Pipeline also has Stewart ranked #2 on their draft rankings. Baseball America has Stewart listed at #8, and also raves about his spin rate on his curve.
While Stewart drops to the Rangers in the most recent BA mock draft, MLB Pipeline’s most recent mock draft has him off the board at #5 to the Cincinnati Reds, while Keith Law has Jon Daniels’ former lieutenant A.J. Preller nabbing Stewart for the Padres at #7.
If Stewart falls to the Rangers, its because of some late struggles, as he’s spent much of the spring projected to go in the top 10 of the draft. Stewart is big, athletic, projectable, and has two plus pitches currently, and so if he can develop a halfway decent change up he profiles as a starting pitcher.
Here’s some video of him: